CPRIT grants continue to fuel the cancer fight

MD Anderson Cancer Center was awarded more than $22 million in research grants in November from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Thirty-six percent of funds awarded for Individual Investigator Awards (IIA) went to MD Anderson faculty members as well as nearly 40% of funds awarded for recruitment, reflecting the excellence and impact of the institution’s world-class cancer researchers and star recruitment candidates.

Across Texas institutions, CPRIT awarded a total of $112 million in 73 new grants. MD Anderson CPRIT awards included $14.8 million for research, $6 million in recruitment funding and $1.4 million for evidence-based cancer prevention services. Consistent with MD Anderson’s broad research program, these CPRIT awards will fund exciting studies in cancers of the liver, skin, pancreas, and ovary, as well as lymphoma, leukemia and other cancers. A full listing of individual awards can be found below.

MD Anderson awards include the following:

• Amplified gold nanoparticle-mediated radiosensitization of tumors — $899,309
• Imaging-based quantitative analysis of vascular perfusion and tissue oxygenation to improve therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma — $885,901
• Understanding biological and physical factors affecting response to proton therapy to improve clinical effectiveness — $879,362
• Exploiting molecular and metabolic dependencies to optimize personalized therapeutic approaches for melanoma — $900,000
• Mechanisms and targeting strategies for SWI/SNF mutations in cancer — $900,000
• Visualizing T-cell trafficking — $900,000
• An adaptive personalized clinical trial using a patient-derived xenograft strategy to overcome ibrutinib resistance in cell lymphoma — $841,606
• Investigating the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying RAS/ERK substrate network — $900,000
• Regulation of infiltration and function of tumor-resident CD8 T-cells by IL-15 — $828,060
• Exosomal DNA as a surrogate biomarker for early diagnosis and therapeutic stratification in pancreatic cancer — $891,938
• Nanoparticle targeted STAT3 immune expression — $888,429
• Clinical safety and efficacy of third-party, fucosylated cord blood-derived regular T-cells to prevent graft versus host disease — $900,000
• Radiogenomic screen to identify novel proliferation associated glioblastoma genomic therapeutic targets: discovery and mechanistic validation study — $897,627
• Identifying new epigenetic vulnerabilities in pancreatic cancer — $900,000